


A Breath of Fresh Air

by 12thdoctorwhomst, fishcustardfairytales



Series: The Non-Canonical Adventures of the Thirteenth Doctor [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, Pain, Regeneration, The TARDIS - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 12:26:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12911907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/12thdoctorwhomst/pseuds/12thdoctorwhomst, https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishcustardfairytales/pseuds/fishcustardfairytales
Summary: The Twelfth Doctor lands in the middle of a forest and is lead by a few familiar faces towards his future…





	A Breath of Fresh Air

Rays of angelic light poured through the green canopies of birch trees. The last stars in the sky had just disappeared in the mid-morning sun. The fog that had held hold of the earthy ground had lifted, but dew still laid upon the mosses and leaves. Growing out of a decaying log covered with a carpet of moss, was a rather large mushroom. A flower near the base of a willow had nearly bloomed; its bulb bulging for freedom. A breeze rustled the leaves slightly, then more, and more. The sagging branches of the willow danced about and the bulb struggled to stay on. The faintest noise could be heard, gradually getting louder every second till it filled the forest. As if out of science fiction, a blue object faded into existence beside the willow; a 1960’s era police telephone box. It slowly solidified, the noise ever getting louder till it was whole. Then, with the sound of a bass drum, the noise stopped, the wind calmed, and the forest found it’s peace again.

The doors flung inwards revealing the insides of the time machine. A silver-haired man staggered out, gripping the left side of the TARDIS. The cuffs on his coat were charred and ripped, much like the rest of his clothes. He fell out of the box onto the soft forest floor; the world was spinning. He gasped as the pain struck him again. Every cell in his body was being replaced. He glanced over at the blooming flower and sighed. It would seem that this was going to be even more painful than last time.

A small crunch of leaves nearby startled him. The Doctor darted his eyes around.

“Can I suggest going a bit further?” A man stepped out from behind a tree. The Doctor’s vision was blurring more, but he smiled at the figure. The man was short and looked to be in his mid 40’s, with a mop of black hair on his head. He pointed towards the forest clearing up ahead with his recorder and nodded. The Doctor stumbled to his feet and carried on forward.

Another man appeared from behind a bush in a cream coat and Panama hat. The Doctor laughed at the celery stalk on the man’s left lapel.

“Sorry! Must dash! Just like you have to too!” He turned and ran off, fading, like a distant memory. The Doctor's smile diminished from his face as his chest tightened.

The Doctor blinked and another figure appeared next to him, leaning on his shoulder. Question marks were littered all over the man’s sweater and his hat was slightly tilted.

“Who's worried? You are, but know you’re ready.” He grinned at The Doctor and held out his umbrella as if to march to battle. “Charge!” he yelled, running forward until he faded into the mist.

The Doctor felt a small shock in his hand, so he shook it in hopes it would feel better. He also felt something brewing up within his chest. Regeneration energy puffed out like a cloud of gold dust from his mouth. He watched it swirl around in the morning breeze till it faded. Suddenly, a dark figure in a leather jacket appeared in front of him.

“You know what? You need to go. You’re holding up the next one!” The man motioned to move forward and grinned. “This one’s gonna be great. Absolutely fan-” But his voice dissipated before he could finish.

The Doctor moved on, struggling with each step to avoid tripping over tree roots. Looking down at his hand, a faint yellowish glow was emanating from it. It was as if his life force was leaking out of him, weakening him. He fell to his knees again and looked up into the sky. The trees formed a ring around the clearing that The Doctor was in now. Long emerald grass covered the clearing and a few bushes shattered the rim of trees. To his right, a small pond could be seen.

Someone let out a laugh nearby. Looking over, The Doctor saw a younger looking man with a rather large chin. He smiled and The Doctor chuckled to himself.

“What a silly bow tie,” he thought. This man was supposed to be his last life, how embarrassing.

The man looked down at his wristwatch as if to signal that it was time, time to change and continue living on. He looked up and grinned, looking The Doctor directly into his eyes.

“Now let me tell you, this one’s gonna be even more of a whopper!”

Suddenly, all the men The Doctor used to be appeared before him.

“This’ll be brilliant!”

“Absolutely fantastic!”

“I suppose it's time.”

“Well now? Let's see it!”

His past lives crowded around him, cheering him on. They all formed a circle around the kneeling Doctor and lifted their hands up as if to bless the dying man; their future. It was comforting to The Doctor to know that there was always someone who cared for him.

Suddenly, all of the people The Doctor used to be, vanished, leaving behind a single man. His back was towards The Doctor and he seemed to be in deep thought looking into the grove.

“You'll be just fine. Just fine. Even if you don't think so.” The man turned to face him and smiled. He wore a tattered brown leather jacket and a fraying scarf. His wrinkled face was just like The Doctor’s and a touch of happiness could be seen in his eyes, although he looked very tired. “Yup, just fine.” The old man turned towards the forest and left, leaving the grass untouched. The Doctor watched till he disappeared into the woods.

The Doctor brought his glowing hands up to his face, which was very hot to touch. Dropping his arms down to his sides from exhaustion, he felt the regeneration energy flowing through his whole body. He took in a deep breath and, with a pain in his voice, declared, “Without hope, without witness, without reward; it’s all I’ve ever lived for…”

With a burst of golden light, energy shot out of The Doctor’s limbs and head. He was regenerating! He could feel his arms and legs getting shorter and his hair was sprouting out. He was going to miss those silver locks. The face he had finally learned to accept was gone now. Then, as quickly as it had started, his renewal was complete. “It’s definitely different this time,” The Doctor thought as the ground grew ever closer.

The Doctor rose up and breathed in some fresh air, smiling. The ground seemed soft and standing seemed to be a breeze now. The sun was beating down, so it had probably been 2 hours since passing out. The clothes were larger than what they use to be, but they were still worn out and tattered. The Doctor jogged over to the nearby pond to use it as a mirror. Hopefully, the damage wasn’t too bad.

The sun shone off the water into The Doctor’s eyes; which was quite blinding. Kneeling at the edge of the pool, The Doctor looked down into the pond and it was clear what the major defect with this new body was. “Blond? Blond hair? But I've been blond before! Why can’t I ever be ginger? And you call those eyebrows? They'll barely last me a conversation on Delphon!” The Doctor continued inspected the new face in the water, trying to see what was different from last time. “Hold on... something's off. What do you think it is?” she asked the blue flower beside her. “Right? Something's definitely different this time. Thanks anyways!” The Doctor patted the flower goodbye and went to find the TARDIS, but where was she?

“Excuse me? Can any of you tell me where my TARDIS is?” she asked a patch of rose bushes. “I think I’ve gotten myself lost, I think. How could I even be lost if I can’t remember where I’ve been? Sorry, that’s not a question you need to answer. Anyways, my TARDIS?” The Doctor clasped her hands together in hopes of a positive response. “No, I didn’t think you’d know,” she said slightly disappointed.

The Doctor started looking around the entire place in search of an answer as to why she was there. Perhaps there was a party with lots of people? No, that couldn’t be right. Then why did she think so many people were there before, before… “Ugh! Why am I not remembering! I’m The Doctor. I’m from Gallifrey. I stole a TARDIS and ran away and I always have been. Every now and then I help out wherever I pass through. I wear silly clothes and carry a sonic screwdriver that still doesn’t work on wood, so why can’t I remember what I’m doing here?”

The Doctor then noticed something on the ground, footprints. She looked at her own shoes; which, for some reason were a few sizes too big. Had her shoes gotten bigger on the inside? It wouldn’t be the first time. The Doctor inspected the soles and came to the conclusion that the footprints were her own. “Perhaps if I retrace them I’ll find the TARDIS,” she said as she followed the single pair of tracks.

She walked back into the woods; the ground covered by the shadow of the leaves. How could she not remember this beautiful scenery? “Maybe,” she thought, “I was preoccupied with something important that I hope to remember soon.” Right as she thought this, the TARDIS came into view. “There you are! I was really worried!” She ran, full sprint at her time machine and gave the biggest hug she could. “Oh! I remember now!” she exclaimed. “I was regenerating! I had forgotten that, but now I remember.” She opened the doors and took one last glanced at the environment she would be leaving behind.

Walking in, The Doctor was shocked. It had seemed that the TARDIS had regenerated her console room again! The most noticeable thing was the spiraling stairway. It twisted upwards around the edges of the room. She spun around to see where it led, but it seemed to rise up forever. The roof was at least 40 meters high. The Doctor let out a small laugh; it was much bigger on the inside now!

Slowly walking over, she placed her hands on the console. The TARDIS was as beautiful as ever. She flicked a small switch and the room lit up. A soft purple light flooded the room and the middle of the console glowed brightly. A hologram appeared underneath the start of the spiral staircase. It was the solar system Gallifrey had belonged to before The Time War. It’s double suns waltz with each other, while planets orbited around them. Words in circular Gallifreyan labelled each celestial body in the hologram. The walls were painted a dark tan colour and became slowly lighter the higher you looked up. The Doctor spun around in awe; she was so beautiful! The doors leading into the rest of the TARDIS seemed to be in the same places as before, but she wondered if they still lead to the same rooms.

The Doctor sat down in a chair and reflected on the events that had happened with her first self. What an adventure that was indeed. It’s quite strange to see who you used to be compared to who you are now.

“Clothes! I need a change of clothes! And ones that fit too.” The Doctor was still in the rather torn and burnt suit that had gotten quite larger.

Once The Doctor had found the wardrobe and changed, she returned to the console room. “What do you think?” she asked. The TARDIS made a gleeful noise of approval. “Well, we have no time to waste. Let’s see… where do you think I should go first?” The Doctor pushed a few buttons and pulled down a lever. The TARDIS started to dematerialize from the woods, making the same noise that was heard when it appeared.

Once the TARDIS had left, the forest was back to it’s same quite, comfortable self. The willow still wept, rays of light still shone through the canopy, and the mushroom still remained a fungi; however, the bulb had bloomed into a beautiful purple allium.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello reader! This is the first fanfic that I’ve ever written and the first one that I’ve had the pleasure of writing alongside with fishcustardfairytales. We've planned and have started to write the next installment to this series, but I can't promise when we'll be done it. If you are interested, you can follow both of us on Tumblr. @12thdoctorwhomst @the-young-doctor-of-gallifrey


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